ACTION ALERT: Please take action to ban PFAS in Alaska! Send messages to the Senate Finance Committee and Testify in Support of SB 67 on Wednesday April 12 at 1pm!
This is big news, as it is the last hurdle before the bill moves to the Senate floor. It’s important for Alaskans to show their support by testifying and sending letters of support for SB 67. We have a good chance of passing the bill during this legislative session!
Now it’s time for you to add your voice to the growing wave of Alaskans concerned about PFAS pollution. Public testimony is being heard, and you can call in remotely on Wednesday, April 12th @ 1pm to show support of a critical bill to keep our drinking water safe:
Anchorage residents: 907-563-9085
Juneau residents: 907-586-9085
Not Juneau/Anchorage residents: 844-586-9085
ACAT, community members from contaminated areas, and leaders from at-risk rural Alaska are sending short, personalized messages to the Senate Finance Committee. We need to prevent further harm from PFAS contamination of our water. Organizational letters of support from tribes, community councils, firefighter unions, and municipalities ignite substantive action to protect Alaskans from PFAS-contaminated water.
PFAS, which are a harmful class of over 12,000 chemicals, are known as “forever chemicals” because they are extremely persistent and have been found in the bodies of people and wildlife. They cause harm to health at extremely low exposure levels, including certain cancers, liver and kidney damage, and immune system suppression. Most of the contamination from PFAS in Alaskan’s drinking water has been caused by the dispersive use of PFAS-based industrial firefighting foams used on airports and military bases. Please send messages of support to the Senate Finance Committee before Wednesday and sign up to testify! Thank you for taking action to protect drinking water and the health of Alaskans.
ACAT conducted independent water quality testing in 2022 that showed PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination in Anchorage lakes as well as in Ship Creek.
These results show contamination in lakes used for swimming and fishing. The results also show contamination in Ship Creek downstream from Joint Base Elmendorf and Fort Richardson (JBER), an important urban ecosystem for fish, wildlife, as well as fishing. The samples from 2021 and 2022 revealed the presence of toxic PFAS chemicals in all the water bodies that we tested in both Anchorage and the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
These data emphasize the need for urgent action to protect public health as well as wildlife. The data concerning PFAS in our local lakes are of concern to environmental and public health. The information is a public right-to-know issue.